This week’s Rookie Report sees the fewest rookies having a hot week. Maybe pitchers are starting to figure these players out, or maybe it’s just a slow week after being nearly two months into the season. Below, I break down some of the performances and share who was hot, mild, and cold. I also share how the rookie pitchers have performed. All stats are from before the games of May 18.
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Updated Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report
Rookie Batters Who Had a Hot Week
Carson Benge – OF, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 156 PA, .243/.301/.347, 3 HR, 20 R, 13 RBI, 8 SB
Carson Benge went on a tear last week against the Tigers and Yankees. At the plate, he was 11-for-28 (.392) with five runs, three RBIs, and two stolen bases. He had a .181 batting average to start the month, which shows how hot he’s been at the plate, due to Benge getting a hit in all but four of his 15 games this month. However, he’s only hit one homer and stolen two bases in May. He didn’t show much power in his Minor League career, hitting 15 homers in 519 plate appearances last season.
Benge is more of a contributor on the base path and with his arm as of now. He ranks in the 93rd and 97th percentiles for base-running value and arm strength, respectively. Not that those are fully helpful to fantasy baseball managers, but now that he’s heating up, hopefully we can expect consistent contributions.
Munetaka Murakami – 1B, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 199 PA, .235/.372/.562, 17 HR, 33 R, 32 RBI, 0 SB
The White Sox’s rookie slugger went seven games before homering on May 16, which seems like nothing, but when he hits seven homers in 10 games, then a seven-homer drought feels like an eternity. This week, he homered twice, scored four times, and had three RBIs while going 5-for-26 (.192). The poor contact weeks are what fantasy managers need to expect, but his power makes up for the lack of production in one category.
Samuel Basallo – C, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 142 PA, .277/.338/.485, 6 HR, 18 R, 17 RBI, 0 SB
Samuel Basallo is on a 10-game hitting streak and is turning into a reliable fantasy producer. Last week, he went 5-for-15 (.333) with a run in all four games he played, two RBIs, and a home run, but he had some knee discomfort at the beginning of the week. He’s been reported as fully healthy, so keep watching your rosters, as he’s in a platoon role as well.
TJ Rumfield – 1B, Colorado Rockies
2026 Stats – 188 PA, .275/.351/.443, 6 HR, 20 R, 23 RBI, 0 SB
TJ Rumfield continues to produce for fantasy managers. Last week, he went 6-for-21 (.285) with three runs, a homer, and two RBIs. He’s proving that his hot start isn’t a fluke. Hitting in the middle of a lineup that hits in Coors Field for half their games is going to continue to throw opportunities his way.
Rookies Who Had a Mild Week
Konnor Griffin – SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 164 PA, .262/.317/.396, 3 HR, 19 R, 20 RBI, 10 SB
Konnor Griffin continued his hitting ways by going 7-for-24 (.291) last week. He also added four runs, an RBI, and a stolen base. He has been struggling with strikeouts, posting a 27.4% strikeout rate. The shortstop has struck out in 11 of his last 13 games. It’s the highest rate of his professional career, but it can be expected from a rookie adapting to Major League pitching. Hopefully, the power he showed in the minors last season will become more consistent.
JJ Wetherholt – 2B/3B/SS, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 208 PA, .233/.356/.401, 8 HR, 33 R, 22 RBI, 5 SB
JJ Wetherholt hit his first homer in May on the 12th. Besides that one long ball, he added three runs and two RBIs to his weekly total while also going 4-for-19 (.210) at the plate. The shortstop’s batting average has been hovering around .240 all month. However, he’s still producing elsewhere for fantasy managers.
Chase DeLauter – OF, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 180 PA, .282/.367/.494, 7 HR, 18 R, 28 RBI, 0 SB
Sam Antonacci – 2B/3B/OF, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 109 PA, .286/.383/.418, 1 HR, 16 R, 9 RBI, 3 SB
Travis Bazzana – 2B, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 73 PA, .271/.411/.339, 1 HR, 8 R, 7 RBI, 7 SB
Yohendrick Pinango – OF, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 51 PA, .333/.373/.438, 1 HR, 3 R, 7 RBI, 0 SB
Rookie Batters Who Had a Cold Week
Sal Stewart – 1B, Cincinnati Reds
2026 Stats – 205 PA, .243/.337/.458, 10 HR, 26 R, 31 RBI, 10 SB
The Reds slugger was one of the hottest hitters to begin the season. However, May has not been friendly to him. He was 6-for-41 (.146) to begin the month. On May 12, he went 3-for-4, so it looked like he was turning a page, but he finished last week going 2-for-17 (.117). Stewart only has one homer and two RBIs in the month. This has been a rough month for the favorite to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award at the end of April. He has since dropped to the fourth-best odds, but hopefully the issues will be fixed soon.
Kazuma Okamoto – 3B/1B, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 185 PA, .233/.319/.448, 10 HR, 23 R, 27 RBI
Kazuma Okamoto had a hit streak every day in May until the 12th, but when he went cold, he went ice-cold. Last week, he went 1-for-14 (.071), while adding two runs and an RBI. He was off to a nice streak in May, not including the 10-game hit streak. He also had five home runs and eight RBIs in his first six games of May. The Japanese slugger recovered from the early-season adversity he faced, so hopefully last week’s setback will be short-lived.
Kevin McGonigle – SS/3B, Detroit Tigers
2026 Stats – 198 PA, .290/.394/.420, 2 HR, 28 R, 16 RBI, 7 SB
Owen Caissie – OF, Miami Marlins
2026 Stats – 126 PA, .207/.270/.342, 3 HR, 14 R, 19 RBI, 3 SB
Nathan Church – OF, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 148 PA, .246/.284/.399, 5 HR, 17 R, 18 RBI, 4 SB
Carter Jensen – C, Kansas City Royals
2026 Stats – 156 PA, .237/.327/.407, 6 HR, 18 R, 19 RBI, 0 SB
Justin Crawford – OF, Philadelphia Phillies
2026 Stats – 148 PA, .263/.338/.391, 2 HR, 12 R, 12 RBI, 6 SB
Brice Matthews- 2B/OF, Houston Astros
2026 Stats – 123 PA, .204/.254/.363, 4 HR, 12 R, 13 RBI, 2 SB
Moises Ballesteros – C, Chicago Cubs
2026 Stats – 120 PA, .250/.308/.463, 6 HR, 14 R, 20 RBI, 0 SB
Jose Fernandez – SS, Arizona Diamondbacks
2026 Stats – 127 PA, .275/.310/.383, 3 HR, 20 R, 12 RBI, 5 SB
Rookie Pitchers
Nolan McLean – SP, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 9 GS, 2-2, 2.92 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 64 SO, 15 BB
Parker Messick – SP, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 9 GS, 5-1, 2.35 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 58 SO, 14 BB
Andrew Painter – SP, Philadelphia Phillies
2026 Stats – 7 GS (1 relief), 1-4, 6.21 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 34 SO, 12 BB
Bubba Chandler – SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 9 GS, 1-5, 5.14 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 36 SO, 31 BB
Connelly Early – SP, Boston Red Sox
2026 Stats – 9 GS, 3-2, 3.21 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 45 SO, 18 BB,
Brandon Sproat – SP, Milwaukee Brewers
2026 Stats – 6 GS (2 relief), 1-2, 5.75 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 36 SO, 20 BB
Foster Griffin – SP, Washington Nationals
2026 Stats – 9 GS, 4-2, 3.53 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 49 SO, 18 BB
Payton Tolle – SP, Boston Red Sox
2026 Stats – 5 GS, 2-2, 2.05 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 30 SO, 7 BB
Trey Yesavage – SP, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 4 GS, 1-1, 1.40 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 21 SO, 8 BB
Connor Prielipp – SP, Minnesota Twins
2026 Stats – 5 GS, 1-2, 2.88 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 29 SO, 9 BB
Noah Schultz- SP, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 6 GS, 2-2, 4.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 26 SO, 21 BB
Tatsuya Imai – SP, Houston Astros
2026 Stats – 4 GS, 1-0, 9.24 ERA, 2.05 WHIP, 16 SO, 14 BB
Injuries/Demotions
Nick Yorke – 2B/3B, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 78 PA, .221/.308/.309, 1 HR, 6 R, 6 RBI, 0 SB
Nick Yorke got demoted to Triple-A with Jared Triolo returning from an injury list stint on May 2.
Juan Brito – 2B, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 56 PA, .176/.250/.255, 0 HR, 7 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB
Juan Brito got demoted to Triple-A on April 28.
Dylan Beavers – OF, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 119 PA, .243/.331/.369, 2 HR, 16 R, 12 RBI, 3 SB
On 10-Day IL with an onlique injury retroactive to May 11
Alex Freeland – 2B/3B/SS – Los Angeles Dodgers
2026 Stats – 112 PA, .235/.309/.337, 2 HR, 11 R, 8 RBI, 0 SB
Optioned to Triple-A on May 11
Rhett Lowder – Cincinnati Reds
2026 Stats – 8 GS, 3-3, 5.40 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 27 SO, 18 BB
Placed on 15-day IL retroactive to May 10
Notable New Additions:
A.J. Ewing – OF, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 25 PA, .294/.500/.588, 1 HR, 5 R, 3 RBI, 2 SB
Henry Bolte – OF, Athletics
2026 Stats – 15 PA, .385/.400/.385, 0 HR, 0 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Elmer Rodriguez – SP, New York Yankees
2026 Stats – 3 GS, 0-1, 4.15 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 6 SO, 9 BB
Ryan Waldschmidt – CF, Arizona Diamondbacks
2026 Stats – 31 PA, .241/.310/.600, 0 HR, 1 R, 5 RBI, 1 SB
Spencer Jones – OF, New York Yankees
2026 Stats – 21 PA, .167/.286/.453, 0 HR, 0 R, 2 RBI, 0 SB
Sung-Mun Song – 2B/3B, San Diego Padres
2026 Stats – 21 PA, .222/.333/.278, 0 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 SB
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